Christmas, Guardian Force Style
by MagCat
Summary: Christmas time has come again for our favorite Zoids pilots and those closest to them, but what does the holiday have in store for them? Only time will tell…
1. Morning Craziness

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Zoids or any of the respective characters in this wonderful fandom. I am, however, absolutely in love with the anime and wish that it was still on the air! This disclaimer is for the entire fic.!!

**Summary: **Christmas time has come again for our favorite Zoids pilots and those closest to them, but what does the holiday have in store for them? Only time will tell…

**A/N: **Hi! Told you guys I'd be back in this fandom; it won't leave me alone. I have a busy schedule, so I don't know when this will be updated, but I just knew that I had to post this. This is just a short Christmas story for the Zoids characters. It has nothing to do with _Wedding Day Rhythm_, so anything that happened in there didn't in here, except the fact that Van and Fiona are married. Then again, we expected this, right? This takes place five years after the series ended. Enjoy!

"…"- conversation

'…'- thoughts

_"…"_ – Zoids and Organoids talking

**Chapter 1: Morning Craziness**

**_Red River Base, Central Continent of Delpoi, Planet Zi – 24 December, 9:00 AM_**

All was quiet at the Red River Base, current headquarters for the Guardian Force. As it was, the only members present at the moment were the Shubaltz brothers, Van and Fiona Flyheight, the mercenary Irvine, the freelance transporter Moonbay, and special agents Raven and Ryss, the latter two present due to needing repairs to their Zoids, along with the few minor officers it took to keep the base running. Major General Robert Hermann had gone home for the holidays to the Republican capital, and Colonel Jake O'Connell had returned to the capital as well to visit his family. Emperor Rudolph and his fiancée Maryanne were coming on Christmas Eve, as well as Van's sister Maria, who was being escorted to the base by Rudolph's honorary adoptive parents Rosso and Viola. All were due to arrive soon, and Dr. Dee had decided to stop by as well, although Irvine had remarked that if the crazy doctor actually came he wouldn't be getting a gift from him. Needless to say, Fiona had sent him an icy look for the remark.

Overall, it was shaping up to be a very busy Christmas. That is, if everyone could just get along…

"How many times have I told you, woman, not to put salt in my damn coffee?!" rang one angry agent's voice from the cafeteria. Irvine, stationed in his room down the hall, groaned and buried his head underneath his pillow, desperately trying to obtain a few more minutes of sleep.

"It's not her fault, Raven, that you automatically assume that we can read your mind!" came a retort and Irvine growled. Damn it, don't people have the decency to let him sleep? Obviously not.

Giving up, Irvine got out of bed and, yawning, hopped in the shower, hoping that the water would wake him up and he could avoid the developing scene in the cafeteria. When he finished, he got out and felt another yawn overtaking him. Guess not; did fate hate him today?

Throwing on a pair of black jeans and a black tee shirt, his combat boots, eye patch, and orange bandanna, he grabbed the key to his room and, exiting, made sure that the coast was clear before running towards the hanger. No way in hell was he risking being seen and roped into doing something "Christmassy"… like hanging mistletoe over random doorways. He'd had enough of that, thank you very much. However, first thing was first – take the Saix out for their morning run and then grab the coffee.

When Irvine reached the hanger, he groaned on seeing that, unlike every other day, he was not the only person who had the idea to escape the base. The few mechanics who had volunteered to stay at base were moving around, yelling friendly insults and comments as they worked on what appeared to be a banged-up Gunsniper. Resigning himself to his fate, he walked towards his Saix, ignoring the nervous voice in the back of his head telling him that this was not a good idea. Why this voice was talking to him, he didn't know; and didn't care.

"Irvine!" a voice called out and Irvine groaned again. This was so not his day. Turning around, he prepared to tell off the voice's owner when he saw just who it was.

Moonbay was walking over, two cups of coffee in her hands. "Irvine, what are you doing in here this early? The Saix isn't scheduled to be worked on until after lunch. Coffee?"

Irvine eyed Moonbay and, deciding that she wasn't going to pull the cup away if he reached for it took the offered cup and, taking a sip allowed a smile to etch its way onto his face. "Thanks, 'Bay. Definitely appreciate it."

Moonbay's chocolate eyes eyed Irvine knowingly. "Raven and Ryss arguing again, right?"

Irvine nodded, taking another sip of the rich and wonderful coffee. "Yep, and, lucky me, I have the closest room to the cafeteria."

Moonbay shook her head in amusement, taking a long sip of her own coffee. "Figured as much, considering that Raven's been moody since yesterday when he found out just what day was coming up." Wrinkling her nose at the thought, she continued, "Of course, Ryss is doing her best to calm him down, but she'll need an army of help to do it."

Irvine grunted in agreement, too busy savoring the coffee. Moonbay did always make the best coffee, even when they were traveling and she had almost no coffee grinds left. "So, Moonbay, why are you in here so early?"

Moonbay glanced over at Irvine and, grinning, replied, "Oh, I was just looking over the paperwork that I'm going to submit to the Republic and Empire to gain ownership of the Ultrasaurus." Grinning wildly, she took another sip of her coffee, happy thoughts of being able to pilot her baby anytime she pleased coming to mind.

Irvine rolled his eyes. "Since when is the Ultrasaurus your Zoid?"

"Since I was able to pilot it for days on end and since he only responded to me."

"That was a fluke, and you know it."

"Wrong, Irvine. I am the best pilot in the world, and that is why the Ultrasaurus chose me."

Irvine cocked an eyebrow. "Cocky, are we?"

Moonbay returned the gesture. "Look who's talking, Mr. 'I'm the best pilot and sole pilot of the Lightning Saix, the only Zoid of its kind'."

Irvine had the good grace to look a tad embarrassed. "Yeah, well…"

Moonbay was about to reply when they heard the hanger doors opening and, glancing over saw two Stormzorders enter, the Zoids folding their wings so that they'd fit inside. A dark red Redlar came in next, bowing his head so that his pilot could climb out easily. Grinning, she moved towards the supersonic birds, and Irvine followed, taking another sip of his coffee as he did so.

The Stormzorders' mouths opened and the two pilots stepped out, followed by the Redlar's hatch opening and two people getting out, one jumping out and the other carefully climbing down.

"Rosso, Viola!" Moonbay called out, waving in greeting. The pilots looked over and, nodding, took off their helmets, revealing the emperor's bodyguards Rosso and Viola.

"Hello, Moonbay, Irvine," Viola greeted, running a hand through her short brown hair. Rosso nodded in greeting, too concerned in looking over his Zoid for any damage that he might have sustained to give a verbal greeting in return.

Irvine nodded and as Viola returned the gesture, he noticed the Redlar's pilot and passenger approaching. Tilting his head he asked, "Who's the girl?"

Viola, without looking back replied, "Irvine, you remember my sister Rosa from Mt. Icelina, right?"

Irvine blinked; damn, he hadn't recognized her. Then again, it had been close to six years, so of course he wouldn't remember her. Moonbay, on the other hand, seemed to have her memory intact as she walked over to Viola's sister and, within a few minutes, she and Rosa, plus Maria Flyheight – the Redlar's passenger – were talking up a storm.

Rosso walked over to Irvine and, grinning, said, "Women, huh?"

Irvine grinned back and replied, "Right." He ducked as something flew over his head from Moonbay's direction. Looking behind him, he saw that it was an empty Styrofoam cup. "Moonbay, your aim needs work."

Moonbay flipped Irvine off, clearly irritated with him for his earlier comments about not only her gender but about _her_ Ultrasaurus, and Irvine rolled his eyes, having expected this. Rosso, seeing his wife join the other women, asked, "Irvine, you got anymore of that coffee? I'm beat and caffeine'll cheer me up."

Irvine nodded then paused, realizing that he didn't know if Moonbay had any more coffee in the hanger. Shit. "Well, rather than try and ask Moonbay where her stash of coffee is let's go to the cafeteria. Hopefully Raven'll have left to go and sulk in his room." Looking over at the group of women Irvine shouted, "Moonbay, Rosso and I are heading to the cafeteria for coffee."

Moonbay waved a hand in response, obviously not caring where Irvine went. Viola looked up and nodded, silently pleading with her eyes for Rosso to bring her back a cup and Rosso, not immune to Viola's look nodded.

As Irvine and Rosso left the red-haired pilot looked at the mercenary and said, "Irvine, don't shoot me until I've finished asking my question, but is there something going on between you and Moonbay? I mean, you took the time to tell her where you were going, and unlike Viola and me, the two of you aren't together. Are you?"

Irvine had stopped walking when Rosso was halfway through his question, his mind working furiously. He didn't like Moonbay like that… did he? Nah; couldn't be. Moonbay was just his best friend after Van, that's all. "Nope, not all," Irvine replied smoothly. "Why?"

Rosso shrugged. "Just seems to me that you care enough about her to let her know where you're going to be, which, in my experience is a sign that you may harbor feelings for her."

Irvine snorted. "The day that I admit that I feel anything for Moonbay beyond friendship will be the day that Thomas finds himself a girlfriend and Raven and Ryss stop fighting enough to make-out in a public area." Irvine's grey eyes moved from Rosso's own grey eyes to the door to the kitchen, from whence no sound came.

"Well, looks like Raven and Ryss have left," Irvine commented praying to Zi that it was true. Pushing the door open, he looked up and paled. Rosso, pushing past a shell-shocked Irvine swore. There were Raven and Ryss in the midst of kissing. The raven-haired agent was pushed up against a wall, the blue-haired Zoidian having initiated the kiss as evidenced by the sprig of mistletoe that she held over their heads.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Irvine muttered and, turning around said, "Coffee's behind the bar, Rosso. I'm going to hurl the contents of my stomach and try to recover." Irvine left, leaving behind Rosso who shook his head in amusement at his friend's antics.

Rosso crossed over to the bar, calling out as he did so, "Don't you think you lovebirds need a room?"

Raven's eyes shot open and realizing just what kind of position he was in pushed Ryss away from him roughly and, glaring at Rosso stalked out of the kitchen, anger coming off him in waves. Ryss looked like Christmas had come early (for her it might have), her sea-green eyes shining.

Rosso watched Raven stalk out and, turning to Ryss said, "So, did your plan work?"

Ryss turned her attention to Rosso and, grinning said, "It sure did. Thanks for the suggestion, Rosso. I really appreciate it. Incidentally," here she moved to get her own coffee cup, which she had abandoned on a nearby table, "did that move really work with you and Viola?"

Grinning, Rosso replied, "Yep. However, I was the one to dangle the mistletoe over her head. Almost got a nice shiner for the trick." Taking two cups of coffee, one with milk and the other black he moved towards the door and, turning commented, "Hey, you want to tag along with me to the hanger? I'm sure that Maria'll be happy to see you."

Ryss looked up from her now cold coffee and said, "Maria's here? Of course I'm coming! Let me go and grab Fiona and I'll meet you there." Ryss dumped her coffee down the drain and moved past Rosso, holding the doors open for the red-haired pilot and then moving towards the Flyheights' room, intent on getting Fiona, even if it meant dragging her away from her husband. More important things were afoot!


	2. Conversations

"…"- conversation

'…'- thoughts

_"…" _– Zoids and Organoids talking

**Chapter 2: Conversations**

**_Red River Base, Central Continent of Delpoi, Planet Zi– December 24, 10:15 AM_**

As Ryss had predicted, Fiona was ecstatic that her sister-in-law had arrived and, ignoring her husband's pleas to come back to bed, Fiona was dressed and running towards the hanger with Ryss at her side in the span of five minutes. Van, meanwhile, was left sprawled on his bed grumbling along the lines of annoying sisters who just had to come this early in the morning, arm over his eyes to prevent the sunlight from shining on them. He had thought that he could sleep in, damn it, but no; of course not. Nothing seemed right, today...

"When did Maria get here?" Fiona asked Ryss as they careened around a corner, both just managing to miss a near collision with a communications officer, who watched the two Zoidians with an awed expression, eyes glazed over in appreciation of the woman's beauty; after all, it was not often that two extremely attractive women almost slam into you.

Ryss replied, "Well, according to Rosso, they got in roughly thirty minutes ago."

"Oh, Rosso and Viola are early, then," Fiona replied her crimson eyes brightening with the prospect of seeing old friends. "Wonder how they accomplished that?"

Ryss snorted. "Fiona, are you forgetting that Rosso and Viola fly _StormZorders_? Or maybe you do know it but the memory was just usurped by something else that's on your mind, hmm?"

Fiona blushed at the insinuation, but before she could sputter out a comeback, she ran into someone and fell backwards, Ryss managing to do the same. While Ryss began cursing up a blue storm, Fiona took the offered help to get back to her feet and found the green eyes of Thomas Shubaltz looking at her worriedly.

"Good morning, Thomas," Fiona said, a grin taking over her face. Thomas nodded and then offered a hand to the still grumbling Ryss, who half-glared at the younger Shubaltz brother before accepting his help.

"Why the hurry ladies?" Thomas asked, polite as ever. Ryss rolled her eyes, still grumbling under her breath about rude men, but Fiona replied that they were on their way to the hanger to see Maria.

Thomas raised an eyebrow. "Oh, so you abandoned Van to go to see his sister; some wife you are, Fiona." While Fiona blushed again and gave a half-hearted glare at her friend, Ryss burst out laughing, amused beyond belief at the scene before her.

"Thomas, how dare you," Fiona began, but stopped her tirade when she saw the smirk on Thomas' face. "You know, Thomas, I think I liked you better before you got a sarcastic streak."

Thomas shrugged. "What can I say; working with my brother has more benefits than at first glance." His green eyes looked from a relatively angry Fiona to a still laughing Ryss and he said, "Would you mind if I came with you? I need to talk to Rosso about the possible upgrades that his StormZorder could acquire, since he asked me to do some independent research."

Ryss stopped her laughing long enough to nod yes and, grabbing Fiona's arm began pulling her towards the hanger, bursting out into small giggles every minute or so.

"This is no laughing matter, Ryss," Fiona scolded her blue-haired friend, but no matter how hard she tried to stop it a small smile made its way onto her face.

Ryss glanced out of the corner of her eye at Fiona and replied, "Oh? I'm sure Van would just love to hear this."

Thomas, walking just behind the two women snorted and remarked, "Sure, Van needing to hear about this is just another nail in my very thick coffin lid."

Ryss burst out into giggles again, while Fiona sighed and glancing back at her friend said, "You're just going to keep making sarcastic remarks, aren't you Thomas?" At the shrug she got as an answer, Fiona sighed and, turning back around began giggling again, and pretty soon she and Ryss were outright laughing while Thomas followed, a smirk still gracing his face.

_**Red River Base, Central Continent of Delpoi, Planet Zi– December 24, 10:30 AM**_

Maria looked up from the small group she was currently engrossed in when she heard laughing and, seeing one of the hanger doors open, watched as a group of three people entered. When she had made out the identities of the people, she waved her hand and called, "Guys, over here!"

Fiona and Ryss, both of whom had settled down, saw Maria's signal and walking over soon became embroiled in the conversation while Thomas, after seeing that Rosso was talking with his wife meandered over towards his DiBison, which was due for an upgrade to the cannons on his back. He could talk with Rosso later.

Climbing up into the DiBison's cockpit, Thomas inserted Beke and waited patiently for his AI to run a diagnostics scan. While Beke worked, Thomas glanced around the hanger, ignoring Rosso and the group of women in favor of examining the Zoids in the hanger. Besides his DiBison, Thomas saw Moonbay's Gustav, Irvine's Lightning Saix, Van's Blade Liger, Rosso and Viola's StormZorders, and a dark red Redlar (which he assumed was what Maria had arrived in). Raven's GenoBreaker and Ryss' dark blue ZaberFang were in their own separate corner, while his brother's red Iron Kong was closer to his DiBison. The three Organoids were in a corner of the hanger, and all Thomas could hear from them was a series of growls that he soon gave up on interpreting. There were also a few extra Zoids such as Shield Ligers, Command Wolves, and a Pteras, plus the banged-up Gunsniper currently being repaired by the base's few mechanics who hadn't gone home for the holidays.

'Nice array,' Thomas thought speculatively. 'If we do get attacked, I believe that we won't have a problem defending the base.' Although the majority of the planet was in a state of peace, there were always those rebel groups who wished to start a war again in hopes of climbing the military and/or power ladder to become strong leaders. They were easy enough to deal with; they were, after all, nothing compared to Hiltz and the Kaiser.

Beke chirped at that moment, drawing Thomas out of his thoughts. He looked over the statistics on display, muttering to himself as he figured out where the flaws in the guns were and how the opportunity to insert a revolving base was too good to pass up. He also saw the chance to boost the firepower and effectiveness of his guns' range by slightly boosting the amount of power that he sent to them when he used them. Thomas was so focused on his findings that he missed the sounds of someone climbing up the side of his Zoid; so, when he heard a bright and cheerful greeting Thomas, startled, jumped and hit his head on the back of his seat.

"Damn it," Thomas muttered, rubbing his now sore head as he looked for the source of the greeting. 'No one should be that cheery this early.' Thomas found himself staring into a pair of light black eyes and he blinked, not recognizing them from anyone he knew.

"May I help you, uh," Thomas began, holding out a hand, and then faltered when he realized that he didn't know the eyes' owner's name.

Said owner giggled and, placing a hand into Thomas' extended appendage said, "Hi, my name's Rosa. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Thomas returned both Rosa's handshake and greeting, but when he saw that the statistics he had been looking at had disappeared he cursed. Rosa looked at the DiBison's control panel and on seeing a flashing yellow light that somehow Thomas had missed she reached over him to press it.

"Hey, just what do you think you're doing?!" Thomas demanded, his face turning slightly red out of a combination of righteous anger and embarrassment because a young woman (a very attractive young woman if he admitted it to himself) was stretched across his body, almost in his lap. If Karl saw him, he'd never let him live it down...

Rosa pressed the button and, taking a few minutes to straighten up replied, "Well, there was a yellow button blinking, and I saw that you had missed it so I pressed it for you." Rosa shrugged. "It's not that big of a deal."

Thomas opened his mouth to make a polemical statement when Beke chirped again and the statistics that he had been looking at minutes before came back up in front of his eyes. Thomas closed his mouth and checking to make sure that everything was there turned to Rosa and said, "Thanks."

Rosa shrugged again, as if used to being told thanks for something every day. "That's ok. It was my fault, really, so I thought I should be the one to correct it."

Thomas shook his head in mild amusement and went back to examining the statistics, once more muttering to himself about possible improvements that his DiBison could possibly handle. Rosa, now seated on the edge of the DiBison's cockpit listened and, seeing a possible problem opened her mouth to tell Thomas what she had seen, but then paused. It wasn't her Zoid, and as such he probably knew better than she how his Zoid operated. After a few minutes of contemplation, she shrugged; it couldn't hurt, right?

"Um, Thomas, I think you missed a flaw in your plans to add a revolving base," Rosa began only to be silenced the look Thomas sent her.

"While I appreciate your desire to try to help, I think I know my own Zoid better than you," he replied icily, obviously not appreciating the fact that some little girl thought she could tell him how to take care of his DiBison.

Rosa bit her lip; what did Viola say to do in situations such as these when faced with a chauvinistic pig? Oh, yeah, be assertive. Summoning her courage, Rosa shot back, "I'm sorry, but you missed a crucial flaw. Look here," Rosa pointed to the base of the DiBison's back-mounted guns, "if you try and add a revolving base here, all you'll do is make the guns unstable. This means that when you do fire the guns in rapid succession they'll be likely to either topple off your Zoid or not fire at all, leading to a build-up of pressure and possibly leading to the guns' exploding."

Thomas stared at Rosa for a minute before turning back to the statistics and, typing in a few commands watched as Beke played out every scenario that Rosa had suggested flawlessly and correctly. Letting out a sigh, Thomas turned to Rosa and said, "Well, looks like you were right. I'm sorry for not believing you."

Rosa rolled her eyes and, grinning, replied, "Not a problem; I get that a lot because people often mistake me for being a lot younger than I am because of how I look." Seeing Thomas' look she continued, "Before you ask, I'm 20 but supposedly look like I'm fifteen."

Thomas thought about agreeing with her last statement but deciding that that might insult her he saved all of the data from the DiBison into Beke (who also functioned as a flash drive) and moved to get out of the DiBison when Rosa asked, "Hey, what are you going to do now?"

Thomas paused a minute before answering, "Well, I'm going to go and work on these statistics on the computer in the back of the hanger here; lot more comfortable. If you want, you could join me. A second set of eyes might be useful."

Rosa's eyes lit up. "Are you serious?" At Thomas' nod, she continued, "This is awesome! Big Sis. won't let me look at her Zoid's schematics; said she's afraid that I'm going to mess up her Zoid. Plus, my own Godos is, unfortunately, too old for me to do a lot of experimenting on. He's back in my village."

Thomas' head snapped up when he heard Rosa say "Big Sis." and, thinking quickly, said, "Wait, when you say 'Big Sis.', just whom are you referring to?"

Rosa gave Thomas a look that said, 'How could you have not known?' Clearing her throat dramatically, she responded, "My big sister is none other than the Sword of Storms, Viola!"

Thomas' eyes widened and, mentally cursing his luck, snuck a look over towards the gaggle of women, hoping against hopes that Viola's charcoal orbs hadn't noticed that her little sister wasn't with her anymore and was, in fact, talking to an Imperial officer and the pilot of the DiBison. Granted, she and Rosso were still a part of the Imperial Army, acting as bodyguards to both Rudolph and Maryanne but Thomas and Karl both knew that she still held some resentment against the Empire for their attacking Mt. Iselina all those years ago.

Breathing out a sigh of relief that Viola was too busy to watch her little sister closely, Thomas looked at a curious Rosa and said, "I was just making sure that you weren't missed. Of course I know who your sister is; how could I not?" Thomas mentally winced at that bold-faced lie. Rosa believed it, causing Thomas to relax internally.

Rosa nodded and, grinning, replied, "Cool. So can we go and look over the schematics now?"

Thomas jumped down from his Zoid, landing on the ground, quickly followed by Rosa, and responded, "Yep, let's do them now."

_**Red River Base, Central Continent of Delpoi, Planet Zi– December 24, 10:50 AM**_

Viola watched out of the corner of her eye as her sister and the younger Shubaltz walked off towards the back of the hanger. Narrowing her eyes, Viola turned to Fiona and casually asked, "Say, Fiona, what's in the back of the hanger?"

Fiona blinked, pondering the weird request for a minute before replying, "Oh, it's just one of the dozen or so computer terminals in the base. Why?"

"Oh, no reason; merely curious," Viola lied while groaning to herself. Now she'd never be able to drag her sister away from a computer screen, all thanks to that damn Shubaltz. Maybe she'd get a chance to encounter him later; yes, she'd make sure to do so. Words would be exchanged...


	3. Bonding

"…"- conversation

'…'- thoughts

"…" – Zoids and Organoids talking

**Chapter 3: Bonding**

**_Red River Base, Central Continent of Delpoi, Planet Zi– December 24, 3:15 PM_**

Time passed quickly that day, made more interesting by the fact that Fiona had had to resort to dragging Van out of his room around noon because he had gone back to sleep earlier in the morning. Van had not been happy, and his umbrage at Fiona's actions had not helped matters. To compound things, Van had had the bonus of having a severe upbraiding from his sister about his rude manners in not coming to meet her in the Zoid hanger when she arrived. Suffice it to say, Van was not in a cheery mood by the time Maria was finished with him, and he took to sulking around the base for about half an hour, growling at anyone who dared to mention that he had had it coming (read: Thomas, who had laughed his head off at Van's predicament before ducking into the kitchen and hiding behind a morbidly amused Karl, hoping that he would gain help in fending off an irate Van).

Raven, on the other hand, had seemingly vanished, much to Rosso's amusement. The red-haired StormZorder pilot knew that Raven had been publicly embarrassed and had retreated to lick his wounds. Rosso could only hope that Ryss, in her zealous quest to have Raven somehow confess his undying devotion for her (her words, not his) hadn't scared the ex-mercenary away.

After he had endured a few hours worth of working on his Zoid without Thomas (where the hell had Shubaltz been anyway?!), compounded by his growing vexation with Viola's incessant chatter with the other women of the base he had retreated to the lounge to relax. After a few minutes, Viola had entered the room as well and Rosso, thinking that his wife would be particularly pleased with his actions (she was secretly cheering that the ex-mercenary and blue-haired Zoidian got together) he had told Viola about Ryss' plan earlier.

However, Viola's reaction was not what he expected, as he had received a not only a glare from his wife, but a reminder about why that trick was not amusing in the form of a slug to the eye. He ended up with a rather tumid black eye, but then, bizarrely, Viola had laughed and said that he had done a good job, as a humiliated Raven was a rarity. She had then walked out of the room, chortling all the way. Rosso, after digging some ice out of a small refrigerator in the corner of the lounge began to wonder what was up with Viola's mood swings; after all, it was practically unheard of that someone received both a black eye and praise on the same day in the span of ten minutes.

Thomas and Rosa spent at least two hours at the computer terminals in the back of the hanger, going over schematics for not only his DiBison but also Rosso and Viola's StormZorders; that is, after Thomas had escaped Van's considerable wrath at being mocked for having to endure one of his sister's famous lectures. Thomas had, surprisingly, found an equal in the girl from Mt. Iselina, and he found it amusing (not that he would admit it) that she managed to match his sarcasm with her own caustic retorts. Rosa was really quite brilliant and her understanding of the intricacies of mechanics surrounding a Zoid's Core began to give him ideas upon ideas of how to improve upon his own schematics for the StormZorders. Hell, he was fast approaching the stage where he was considering asking (not begging; a Shubaltz never begged) Dr. Dee to tender the young woman an apprenticeship as an engineer so he could continue their conversations on how to install a speed booster to Moonbay's Gustav that wouldn't totally wreck the transporter-type Zoid. Hmm, that was an idea...

Rosa, meanwhile, was ecstatic that she had found someone who shared her appreciation for technology, as truth be told she had been bored in her small, isolated village. It wasn't that she didn't like her village, but after the war had been terminated, there had been nothing for her to do beyond reading any material she could acquire on Zoid schematics and engineering, resulting in the ransacking of the village's small public library and the pilfering of tactical guides from the pilots who at times passed through the village on the way to the summit to try to break the record for fastest ascent to the summit of Mt. Iselina (this was something Viola was not aware of, and would remain that way, if Rosa had anything to say about it). The current record belonged to some fifty-year old pilot of the Guylos Empire, who had made the journey in two months, three days, five hours, five minutes, twenty-two seconds; not that she cared, you understand. To add to her frustration, the village elders really didn't appreciate her "messing around" with the other Zoids that the Guylos Empire had given to the village for protection and to help with the farming of the rocky soil. This had left her to tinker with old pieces of rusted iron and steel or try to figure out a way to improve her personal Zoid, which was in rough shape from the years that she had piloted it in defense of the village. On the up side, Rosa had developed an appreciation for working around a Zoid's Core in order to improve performance, which, from what she had gathered was a radical way of approaching the engineering aspect of building and improving upon various Zoids.

Although the Godos had appreciated Rosa's efforts, he knew that he was not the best test subject for the girl, and she knew it too. So, when she had gotten the chance to hang out with her Big Sis. for a few months, she'd jumped at her luck, leaving her Godos back in the village with the village elders, whom she suspected were glad to clean their hands of her. No longer would they have to deal with her endless attempts to improve upon what they considered perfectly acceptable.

Irvine, well, he was still in his room, doing whatever he could to erase the image of Ryss and Raven kissing in the cafeteria from his mind. Not that any of his attempts worked, however, and to stymie his efforts and add to his misery, he wasn't getting any peace.

"Irvine!" Moonbay demanded, banging her fist on his door, "Get out here! Van needs your help to go and get the tree!"

"Go away!" Irvine shot back, not in the mood to deal with his temperamental friend. "I really don't want to deal with your mood swings now." Irvine paused a minute… shit, had he said that aloud? When he heard increased pounding on the door, he realized that yes he had indeed said the last phrase out loud. Deciding to forego the consequence of his words – the ruination of his door – he got up and opened said door, only to sidestep the punch that Moonbay had sent his way.

"What is the big idea of insulting me like that?!" Moonbay demanded, chocolate orbs boring into Irvine's gray ones.

"Listen, I wasn't thinking and I'm sorry," Irvine said running a hand through his hair. "Look, I saw something really unnatural this morning and I've been trying to think of ways to get it out of my head."

"What did you see, and before you say that it's too horrible to talk about, let me remind you that you owe me an apology for insulting me earlier." Moonbay's arms were crossed, a splenetic expression spread across her face.

"Well… let's put it this way. Do you remember what Rosso did to Viola two years ago with the mistletoe?" When Moonbay nodded yes, Irvine continued, "Take that incident, substitute Raven and Ryss and, well, you get the picture."

Predictably, Moonbay did react, but not exactly as Irvine had thought. "Really? Well, finally! I thought it'd take Raven forever to make a move!"

Irvine coughed awkwardly. "Actually, Ryss was the one who made the first move."

Moonbay didn't say anything for a minute before shrugging and replying, "So much the better, then. At least Ryss let the guy know that she cared." Irvine could have sworn that he detected some resentment in his friend's voice when she talked about Raven and Ryss.

Moonbay's eyes soon narrowed as she remembered the original reason she had come to grab Irvine. "So, are you going to go and help Van get the tree?"

Irvine was about to argue no, he didn't want to and shouldn't Thomas be the one to help but, noticing the look in Moonbay's eyes decided not to risk her wrath. "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming." He threw on a leather jacket over his tee shirt and, locking his door headed towards the hanger where he knew Van would be.

"Oh yeah; hey Moonbay," Irvine paused and turned back around, meeting Moonbay's gaze, "You're looking particularly nice today." He winked then turned back around and continued on his predetermined path towards the hanger, leaving behind a shocked and faintly blushing Moonbay.

**_Red River Base, Central Continent of Delpoi, Planet Zi – December 24, 4:35 PM_**

Karl Shubaltz was happy. He was going to be spending Christmas with not only his younger brother for the first time in years, but also his friends, which, if he was completely honest with himself were quite... strange. There was, of course, the hero of Planet Zi Van Flyheight and his Zoidian wife Fiona, followed by an ex-mercenary, a transporter, an ex-villain turned agent, another ex-villain turned agent (and a Zoidian to boot), the Guylos emperor, his fiancée, their bodyguards, a sister to one of the bodyguards, and the sister of the hero of Planet Zi. This last person was of special interest to Karl, as he had not been able to stop thinking about her since he had last seen her when he went to visit Van in the Wind Colony a few months ago to discuss the sordid task of routing out a rather large group of bandits from their position in the Canyon of the Rare Hertz. When he had heard that she was going to be spending Christmas with her brother at the same base that he was stationed at he had been happy beyond belief; not that anyone knew. He had a reputation to maintain, after all... not to mention that his brother would endlessly tease him.

Therefore, when Karl saw Maria talking to Fiona and Ryss in one of the lounges that afternoon he wasn't quite sure what to do. Should he approach her or watch from a distance? If he went with option A, then what was his next move going to be? Things didn't go according to his very vague, sinuous plans, however, when he was spotted by Van and invited – or rather dragged – into the lounge where he ended up sitting across from Maria. Now what?

"So Karl, when's Rudolph going to arrive?" Van asked stretching his lank form out on one of the many couches placed in the room. He and Irvine had just brought back the tree and he was exhausted. Dragging a tree like the one they had found back to base had been tiring, not to mention ridiculous because Zeke had refused to help, content to plod along next to Van and ignore the curses coming from Irvine. Then, there had been the fight to put the damn tree into its stand, resulting in the tree winning and Van's new outfit of dark green pine needles. Irvine's rather superfluous sniggering was a constant reminder of the tree's victory. Thomas, who had popped in to grab a few sodas for Rosa and himself, had joined in on the sniggering and remarked that maybe Van should be the tree that year, as he most certainly looked the part; of course, the Imperial coward had vanished before Van could find something hard to throw at him.

"Emperor Rudolph should be arriving in roughly forty-five minutes," Karl answered, inwardly wincing as Van failed yet again to use Emperor Rudolph's title.

"How do you know the emperor, Van?" Maria asked, her black eyes, very similar to Van's, entrancing Karl.

As Van told his story, with Fiona piping every now and then with some details that Van missed – or left out on purpose – Ryss found it amusing that the elder Shubaltz brother's attention was riveted on Van's sister. 'This could be fun.'

"So, Van, if the emperor is so important, then why is he spending Christmas here and not with his family?" Maria asked, curious as to why her little brother was so important to the Guylos emperor.

"Well, that's because Rudolph and I consider ourselves family. I mean, when he traveled with us all those years ago we bonded like brothers; hell, even Irvine and Moonbay consider the pipsqueak a family member," Van replied. Van didn't see Karl's obvious wince at the lack of respect the Zoid pilot had for the emperor.

"Yes, that's true. So ever since then we've considered Rudolph part of our family, and as such we felt it prudent to invite Maryanne and him to celebrate with us. It works both ways because this year, unlike other ones in the past we can all get together, plus Rudolph's schedules are clear," Fiona said.

"And therein lies our reasoning for inviting Rudolph and Maryanne here for the holidays," Van said, ending the impromptu story time and Maria nodded.

"Van, that's so nice of you. I'm impressed with just how much you've matured over the years," Maria said, and ignoring Van's groaning and whining continued, "I mean it. When you left the Wind Colony all those years ago, you were quite immature and I was worried that you'd mouth off and make enemies." She paused then continued, "You didn't do that, did you?"

"Well, ah," Van said intelligently, turning to Fiona for help. When Fiona shook her head and giggled, he groaned and said, "Well, let's just say that I've really learned how to think." He didn't dare look at Ryss as he knew that the blue-haired Zoidian was most likely laughing her ass off at his obvious discomfort.

"That much is true, Van," Karl said, inserting himself into the conversation for the first time drawing a surprised look from the young Zoid pilot. "When I first met you, you were mouthing off to both my squadron and me, yet when you battled the Ultimate Deathsaurer you had grown a lot, even becoming somewhat polite."

Ryss snickered at this last statement while Van squawked at the unintended insult. Maria, meanwhile, looked at Karl and, tilting her head asked, "So you knew my brother?"

Karl looked at her, thinking, 'She is really very pretty,' while saying, "Of course. When he was younger, we met up several times in battle, although at first I only knew him as the 'Shield Liger Pilot'. Then, when the Guardian Force was created, he and Thomas were assigned as partners. As time went on, and my brother and Van spent more time working together, I learned more about him. I began to see that although he was still very rash he had gained the ability to strategize and think before randomly attacking, gradually developing more of a sagacious personality. Some of his strategies worked very well, and I've even used one or two now and again to deal with rebels."

Maria was excited; she had finally found someone who would slake her desire to find out what Van had been up to in the year or so between when he had first left the colony to when he had returned after helping to end the war between the Empire and the Republic without leaving out any details. She began questioning Karl about Van's attitude and how he thought her brother had changed specifically, much to Van's horror and Karl's surprise. Ryss merely snickered, thoroughly enjoying Van's embarrassment while half-ignoring the voice in her head that said that Raven would definitely enjoy seeing Van squirm and the other half of her relishing in the idea. Maybe she should tell him about it...

Fiona, meanwhile, was torn between helping her husband and listening to Karl and Maria's conversation, tempted to join in with her own memories of that adventurous year. She glanced at Ryss and upon seeing her get up to leave, Fiona decided to leave as well, if only to preserve her sanity. It wouldn't do, she decided, to embarrass him. Despite Van's pleas, with him going so far as to resort to the "puppy eyes", Fiona merely smiled serenely at him and followed Ryss out, leaving her husband behind to suffer the humiliation of having to answer questions that he probably should have answered years ago when Maria first asked them.


	4. Hiding and Discoveries

"…"- conversation

'…'- thoughts

"…" – Zoids and Organoids talking

**Chapter 4: Hiding and Discoveries**

**_Red River Base, Central Continent of Delpoi, Planet Zi – December 24, 4:55 PM_**

"Hey, you hiding out here too?" Irvine asked Raven as he crouched behind his Lightning Saix, which was parked against a wall of the hanger, complete with a rather high stack of wooden crates nearby as well. Thanks to an encroaching shadow from a small overhead window, Irvine was relatively sure that no one would find him.

Raven glared at Irvine half-heartedly, not really in the mood to argue. Turning his head he grunted, which Irvine took for a yes. The GenoBreaker pilot was seated on a much smaller crate, legs stretched out in front of him. The stack of crates did their utmost best to shield the seemingly disgruntled pilot; Irvine knew the feeling all too well.

"If it makes you feel better," Irvine said, making himself comfortable on a slightly higher crate, "you're not the only male to hide from women on Christmas Eve." When Raven didn't answer, Irvine continued, "All men do it, and if they're unlucky enough to be stuck helping out with chores, then, well, just be glad it's not you."

'Hypocrite,' Irvine told himself mentally, 'you have no inkling what you're talking about, considering you never even celebrated Christmas before you met Moonbay… and even then, you only celebrated the damn thing when you were with her.'

Raven turned his amethyst gaze on Irvine and asked, "For your information, I'm not 'hiding out' here. I'm talking to Shadow." He motioned with his head to where the black Organoid was perched above Raven, the light blue eyes regarding the ex-mercenary with a morbid curiosity. Beside him, Irvine caught a glimpse of Specula, who was curled up in a ball, yellow eyes hidden and Zeke, who was moving over towards him, ruby eyes glowing. Grinning, Irvine petted Zeke on the nose, causing Zeke to growl happily.

"That so?" Irvine asked nonchalantly. "What about?"

Raven gazed at Irvine for a moment then, shrugging said, "Zoidian Holidays." Raven ignored Irvine's intrigued look at his words and continued, "Specifically, if Shadow had to deal with chaos like now when he was still living with Zoidians." Raven was, understandably, still a tad embarrassed over Ryss' action from that morning (not that anyone knew but himself and Shadow… or, at least, he hoped) but, oddly enough, had come to terms with it. Of course, this realization coincided with the horror that the seminal idea of a few years ago – Ryss was an alluring woman – had manifested into something akin to the idea that she was beautiful and he may or may not be in love with her. Raven had spent the day hiding from the holiday activities, mostly by laying flat on the base's roof; then, he had gotten hungry and ventured down to the kitchen. Now, rather than journey back to the roof, he had decided it prudent to conceal himself in the Zoid hanger. Although physically calm, his emotions were in chaos, moving through cycle after cycle with no end in sight.

Shadow nodded and, glancing between the two humans said, _"I was just telling Raven that Ancient Zoidians did celebrate holidays, most of which were centered on solstices and harvests. We also celebrated something similar to this... Ristmas."_

_"That's Christmas, Shadow," _Zeke responded, turning his ruby gaze on the black Organoid. _"I believe that it's pronounced 'Christmas'." _Shadow subtly rolled his eyes at the silver Organoid's words; honestly, Zeke was such a stickler for grammar; who the hell cared?!

_"Whatever."_ Shadow scoffed, leaning down so that Raven could pet his nose. The amethyst-eyed man did as his Organoid asked allowing a small, genuine smile to curl at the side of his mouth as he did so.

After a minute, he straightened back up and continued. _"Anyway, we did not celebrate this 'Christmas',"_ Shadow made sure to pronounce the word right to ensure that Zeke wouldn't nag him again. Honestly, who gave a damn if the word was pronounced right? It wasn't like one of the two remaining moons was going to fall if he didn't pronounce something right! "_We did celebrate something similar to it though, and it was our biggest holiday, complete with many gifts and parties."_

Raven shot a curious look at Shadow, who had shivered in remembrance of the month's worth of parties and celebrations, the worst of them right around the holiday itself. He did not want to remember them at all.

Irvine looked at Raven to translate, knowing that without a bond with an Organoid all he understood was that the growls and snarls meant something. Dr. Dee had come in handy, after all. After the raven-haired pilot had translated, Irvine whistled and commented, "Well, sounds like our Christmas came from your celebrations. What were they called?"

Shadow and Zeke looked at each other, not sure how to answer, but then Specula blinked open one yellow eye and, yawning, replied, _"It was called 'festum plenilunium'_." Specula's other eye opened and, yawning again she got up and stretched, similar to how a cat would stretch after sleeping in the sun for a few hours.

Shadow translated for Raven who mulled it over and after a minute said, "That sounds like Latin." On seeing Irvine's confused expression, he rolled his eyes and said, "Latin, as in one of the dead tongues of Zi?"

Irvine blinked before understanding what Raven was talking about. "Oh, that Latin. Got ya." When Raven shot him a bemused look, Irvine grinned and continued, "What? I do. I'm not totally ignorant of different languages, you know." He mockingly sniffed superciliously. "I had some experience with them in my days as a mercenary."

The two men then began talking about their days as mercenaries, with Irvine detailing his run-ins with different languages, among them Latin. Raven's smirk was fairly pronounced as Irvine launched into the tale of how he'd been caught while in a bar watching a fist fight with a punch to the back of the head, dragged out to an abandoned warehouse and threatened with a small switchblade from a man who had absolutely no clue what he'd gotten himself into by kidnapping a well-known mercenary. Needless to say, said man was currently working on a farm, content to never see another Zoid again; the Command Wolf hadn't taken to well to having his pilot kidnapped...

After a few minutes of swapping bar stories and brawls, conversation soon switched to how chaotic the base was, with Raven sharing the last Christmas he remembered celebrating with his parents before Ambient had killed them. Irvine said nothing, knowing that his commenting on it would only make the raven-haired pilot angrier and more bitter; considering that Raven was now vowing to find Ambient's remains and burn them, it was understandable that Irvine didn't want to risk his neck.

Conversation continued between the two pilots until they heard footsteps echoing in the hanger, and both grew silent, hoping that they would be passed over by the footsteps' owner. No such luck.

"There you two are," Fiona said, her crimson eyes taking in the slightly guilty expression on Irvine's face and the stony one on Raven's face. "We've finally located all of the ornaments that were in storage throughout the base, although we could have used your help." She stared at the two men, causing Irvine to squirm just a bit uncomfortably. Raven remained stoic.

Fiona sighed and, folding her arms continued, "No thanks to you two louts, we're ready to begin decorating the tree."

Irvine sighed and, getting to his feet, turned to Raven. Rolling his eyes, he commented, "See? What'd I tell you – chaos."

Raven's lips quirked into a semblance of a smile and, getting to his feet motioned for the three Organoids to follow him. Shadow made sure that he was right next to Raven, with Zeke running up so that he was next to Fiona, who started petting him, crooning praises for being such a good boy and for alerting her to Irvine and Raven's locations (the silver Organoid was branded a target then and there by two irate ex-mercenaries). Specula followed behind everyone else, her yellow eyes looking over Raven and wondering just what her mistress saw in him. He was a churlish, inconsiderate and a cold-hearted man… although; he did have a different side when around her mistress. Maybe that was it; she'd have to ask her later. She also had to admit that Shadow was very attractive…

**_Red River Base, Central Continent of Delpoi, Planet Zi – December 24, 5:15 PM_**

When Irvine and Raven entered the lounge, they were highly amused when they saw that everyone was gathered around the tree (which had been placed in a corner of the room and whose top just brushed the ceiling). They also saw that Rudolph and Maryanne had arrived. Moving over towards the young man, Irvine reached out and ruffled Rudolph's hair, causing the young emperor to wince and bat Irvine's hand away.

"Good to see ya, squirt," Irvine remarked, causing Karl to wince internally. By the Zoid Eve, didn't these people know that it was plain out _rude_ not to address the emperor by his proper title, much less name?

Rudolph's scowl quickly turned into a smile. "Good to see you too, Irvine." Standing next to the tall mercenary, Rudolph seemed to be a kid, even though he had hit a large growth spurt recently, shooting up over a foot and a half, resting at a respectable five foot six inches.

Maryanne frowned on not being noticed but when she saw Zeke her eyes brightened and she shot towards the silver Organoid, wrapping her arms around the Organoid's neck. "It's so good to see you Zeke!"

Zeke shot a look at Fiona, who was grinning. It plainly said, 'Help me!' Maryanne didn't notice the increasingly panicked look adorning Zeke's face, too busy hugging the miniature dragon and rambling about the wedding to Rudolph that was sure to happen in the future.

Fiona was saved from having to do the job when an explosion echoed from the next room. Shrieking, Maryanne quickly released Zeke, startled, and moved to hide behind Rudolph, who rolled his eyes while sporting a small blush. "What was that?!"

Van, grinning, replied, "Oh, just a late visitor, isn't that right, Dr. Dee?"

The door opened to reveal the older man, whose white hair was tinted light gray with smoke and, making for a comedic effect one of his eyebrows was bellowing black wisps of smoke, obviously having been on fire. Irvine promptly burst out laughing, followed by Ryss, who was utterly amused to see a man who had been on fire. Raven, who was leaning against a wall, openly smirked while Fiona glared at Irvine and moved to help the doctor.

"Are you okay, Dr. Dee?" she asked, eyes roving over the doctor worriedly.

Dr. Dee waved his hand and replied, "Just fine, my dear. I merely added a wrong electrical charge to my newest creation." Glaring at the laughing Irvine and Ryss, he folded his arms across his chest and added, "Glad to know that some people find my failure amusing."

Ryss was the first to stop laughing and, calming herself down said, "Sorry, it's just that I've never seen someone look so calm after seemingly burning himself."

Dr. Dee seemed mollified by Ryss' answer and after a minute replied, "Well, I don't think I'll bother with Irvine, considering that all he does is disrespect me." Dr. Dee wiped a tear from his eye. "And to think that I was the one who gave him his Lightning Saix."

Irvine had by now stopped laughing and was outright glaring at the doctor, whom he was sure was baiting him to get him in trouble with Fiona, who loved the old man to pieces. He knew for a fact that the tears were fake, merely added to increase the drama. Rather than replying, Irvine stalked off to sulk in a corner of the room, ignoring Dr. Dee's maniacal laughter.

A few minutes later, Dr. Dee was explaining his invention to an excited Rosa, who was looking enthralled with his explanations. For that matter, so was Thomas, who was standing next to Rosa and was taking notes. In fact, they were very close... and, hell. Irvine may be no expert when it came to romance, but he knew the beginnings of a possible one, and damn if it wasn't in front of him between Thomas and Rosa.

Damn it, that was part two of his bet with Rosso that he wouldn't confess to Moonbay (about anything, but in this case his feelings... whatever they were) unless Raven and Ryss were caught making out in public (which had happened and which Irvine wished he could forget) and Thomas got himself a girlfriend (Rosa seemed to be filling that role quite well). Irvine had a nasty feeling that Rosso knew that the two conditions he had set down had been fulfilled and now he would have to pay up, and, yep, there was Rosso grinning at him. Damn it.


	5. Happy Endings

"…"- conversation

'…'- thoughts

"…" – Zoids and Organoids talking

**Chapter 5: Happy Endings**

**_Red River Base, Central Continent of Delpoi, Planet Zi – December 24, 8:00 PM_**

Rosso was looking around for his buddy Irvine; it was time for the ex-mercenary to make good on his part of the bet. Rosso praised the Zoid Eve as he walked around the base, for it was sure as hell plain to see that Irvine liked the transporter. For Zi's sake, he'd seen it back when he'd still been a bandit on Prozen's payroll! For all that the ex-mercenary had done for the planet, he deserved some happiness, and if he, an ex-con could get it so could the Lightning Saix pilot.

Rosso patted himself on the back for his initiation of the bet; honestly, who would've thought that both parts of it would come true in one day? First, there was the public display of affection between Raven and Ryss (Viola, upon finding out about it and calming down from both her earlier laughing fit and her "gift" of a black eye thought it sweet and had proceeded to make out with Rosso underneath the mistletoe... not that he had complained), and then there was the Thomas/Rosa situation. Rosso had had to hold back his irate wife from strangling the young Imperial soldier upon finding out that he had asked Rosa out on a date after Christmas and before she returned to Mt. Iselina in a few months' time. Thomas had actually stood up to Viola after finding out that she was against her sister dating, which had impressed Rosso, and Rosa had agreed with Thomas' assertion that she was old enough to choose how she wanted to live her life and whom she dated. After all, she was now twenty years old, more than old enough to make her own decisions.

Rosso shook his head. His wife could be so stubborn that it was amazing. She had only agreed to let Thomas date Rosa after the young soldier had signed a contract saying that if he harmed Rosa in any way he would be maimed courtesy of Viola. Rosa had looked upset then resigned, knowing that her sister was impossible to argue with once she got an idea in her head but Rosso, knowing his sister-in-law like he did, was sure that Rosa was planning her revenge against his wife for the contract.

"Hey, Ros, over here," came a voice and Rosso turned to see his wife motioning to him to follow her. Rosso cocked his head and followed Viola who pulled him into the room that they had been given for the duration of their stay.

"Vi, what's going on?" Rosso asked, confused. Viola looked at him before moving over to their bed and picking up a small, wrapped gift.

"Nothing; I just wanted to give you your gift in private." Viola proceeded to hand her husband the gift who, after cocking his head curiously carefully unwrapped it, saving the wrapping paper like he always did. She crossed her arms over her chest – almost protectively, Rosso absently noted – and watched as her husband opened the small box. Rosso's eyebrow went up as he saw that there was nothing in the box sauf a small piece of paper and, pulling it out read it once, then twice, then three times.

"You, you're serious?" he whispered, not believing it.

"Yes, Ros. I am serious. I'm pregnant," Viola whispered, surprised when she was suddenly caught up in a tight hug. Eyes widening, she said, "Rosso?"

"That's, this is great, Vi!" Rosso whispered, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

"You're not upset?"

"Hell no, why would I be?" Rosso stepped back to look at his wife. "I am so happy right now I could sing."

"You, sing?" Viola asked, amused at the thought.

"Well, maybe not sing," Rosso replied, grinning lopsidedly. "Although, this means that you won't be piloting the Stormzorder for a while, right?"

"Hey, I can still pilot for a few months!"

"Doctor's orders?"

"Well, no, but –"

"No buts, Viola, until we find out for sure," Rosso said, then added, "'Till then, Rosa can fly your Zoid, and we'll get someone else's help to get the Redler back to Guygalos. I'm sure Maria'll want to stay for a while anyway, and Van can always run her home later."

Viola opened her mouth to argue but then realized that Rosso was right. Shaking her head ruefully she said, "Fine, we'll play it your way. When do you want to let everyone else know?"

Rosso grinned. "Don't know; how about later?" He leaned down and planted feather-light kisses on Viola's lips and neck. Viola smiled and agreed; consequently, they weren't seen for an hour or so.

**_Red River Base, Central Continent of Delpoi, Planet Zi – December 24, 8:45 PM_**

Meanwhile, Irvine ducked out of the celebration in the living room – there were just too many people in there, and the old geezer had gotten into the eggnog… again – to try to find some peace and quiet; or more specifically, Moonbay. He hadn't seen her since earlier that evening when she had helped Fiona, Ryss and Maria decorate the Christmas tree, giggling as they gossiped about something he really had no interest in; afterwards, she'd left to parts unknown. This, for some reason, worried him… causing him no end of confusion.

'Damn it, why am I feeling so guilty that I can't find her? It's just a bet, I'm an ex-merc, and we mercenaries don't have to keep promises; in fact, we tend to break them. Yet… it feels like I _have_ to keep this one.'

Irvine entered the Zoid hanger and his eyes instantly flew to his Lightning Saix, who had his head lowered to the ground next to Moonbay's Gustav. Cocking his head, Irvine moved towards his Zoid and stopped when he saw the person he was looking for perched on top of the Gustav, stroking the Saix' muzzle while looking up at the stars that shone through a skylight. The Saix, unbelievingly, was _purring_. What the hell?!

"Moonbay?"

Moonbay whirled around and found herself staring into the one uncovered grey eye of Irvine's. Grinning widely, she responded, "What's up?"

"What are you doing?"

"Watching the stars." Moonbay shrugged, glancing down at Irvine, a gleam in her eyes. "Want to join me?"

Irvine sighed dramatically. "If I must." Hiding a smirk at Moonbay's crestfallen face he proceeded to clamper up next to the transporter. The female was trying to hide a disappointed frown from the ex-mercenary, but he was well-versed in reading people… especially Moonbay. 'Not going to work, 'Bay. I see everything.'

"Sick of the congregation in the living room?" Irvine asked, leaning back on his arms, interest seemingly piqued by the stars.

Moonbay shook her head, petting the Saix again. The cheetah-type Zoid growled in pleasure. "Kind of; I just wanted to think. You?"

"Absolutely; the glares from Fiona were getting a bit out of hand." Moonbay laughed at the remark while Irvine frowned. "It's not funny; it's like I killed the old man."

"Technically, Irvine, you insulted him and refused to apologize in front of Fiona, who you know is very attached to him. She considers him her dad." Moonbay paused after saying this, her eyes clouding over. "It'd be nice if I could remember my own dad."

Irvine's ears perked up; this sounded interesting. New territory was always interesting to explore. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. Guy was a bum, left mom and me when I was five for some younger tramp." Moonbay spoke bitterly; obviously, her dad's leaving still affected her. Irvine glanced over at her, not liking how downtrodden she looked.

"Sorry to hear that, 'Bay," Irvine responded after a moment of silence. "Least you got to know yours; mine ran out on Helena and me when I was three and she one. Bastard never looked back."

Silence reigned, with the soft purring of the Saix the only sound, but after a while, Irvine sighed and said, "So… what'd you want for Christmas?"

"Told you earlier; I want my Ultrasaurus." Moonbay looked over at Irvine curiously. "Why the sudden interest?"

Irvine looked away. 'Damn it, her eyes are getting to me when they shouldn't be.'

"Nothing; just curious, is all." Irvine shrugged Moonbay's semi-glare off before continuing, "What would you say if I told you that there's one more gift?"

Moonbay's eyes lit up (Damn it, Irvine thought, it's those eyes again!) and she said – more like demanded – "I'd say give it to me now!"

"You sure?" Irvine asked, trying to keep the nervousness out of his voice. Damn Rosso for getting him into his mess and damn his newfound sense of honor for holding him to this bet! Since when did he become like, like Van?!

"Damn sure!" Moonbay responded, scooting closer to Irvine, not noting the sudden tenseness in her friend's shoulders. "Let me have it!"

"If you're sure," Irvine replied then, taking a deep breath he turned to Moonbay, brought his hands up to her face and kissed her. He held the kiss for a few moments before pulling away, smirking when he saw that Moonbay was too shocked to instantly formulate a response.

"Irvine, what was that?" Moonbay asked, unconsciously bringing a hand up to her lips. Zi, that had been so, so exhilarating! Moonbay felt as if sparks of electricity had moved between the two, running the length of her body to come to rest on her mouth.

"My gift to you, 'Bay," Irvine replied, smirk still in place.

"Why?" Moonbay asked, her chocolate orbs boring into Irvine's one eye. Irvine groaned. Damn it, she _would_ have to ask that question, and considering that he didn't have a solid answer he was not pleased with this development.

"Why not?" Irvine flippantly answered, earning a glare from Moonbay. "Fine, it was because I lost a bet."

Moonbay blinked then glared at Irvine before hitting him on the leg and arm. "You kissed me because of a _bet_?! Insensitive jerk!" This was, of course, hissed at Irvine, causing him to wince. Zi, he did not like the tone of her voice.

Yet, after a moment Irvine's temper peaked and he spoke without thinking. "Listen, I may have kissed you 'cause of a bet, but I've been wanting to do it for ages! You think it's easy liking you but not knowing if you liked me back or if you wanted to run off to that McMann jerk again?! It's not!"

Moonbay's glare softened. "Irvine, you do know that McMann's history and that he means nothing to me, right?"

"Not really considering he's been sending you letters like crazy since the Ultimate Deathsaurer fell." Irvine had a tendency – not that he'd admit it – of intercepting some of the more nasty letters (read: notes promising Moonbay that he'd love and care for her the rest of her life if she came back to him) and disintegrate them with the Saix' laser pulse cannon. The Saix reveled in the activity just as much as his pilot.

Moonbay didn't look fazed at the mention of the letters. "That was five years ago!"

"Doesn't matter," Irvine replied somewhat childishly; he was therefore caught off balance when Moonbay abruptly hugged him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Moonbay?"

"Idiot," Moonbay said softly. "I didn't reply to any of McMann's letters 'cause I was over him." She looked up and winked. "Plus, some of his letters I could never find once I'd received them." She was pleased to see the tiniest hint of embarrassment creep across his cheeks. Sighing, she added, "I've moved on to someone better."

"Who?" Irvine asked softly, fearing the answer. If it wasn't him, then he was going to murder the bastard, even if he ended up going to jail!

Moonbay rolled her eyes. "You, idiot." She then kissed him softly, to which Irvine responded.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." The two proceeded to look at the stars again, this time with Moonbay snuggled up against Irvine, head fitting the hollow of his neck perfectly.

Meanwhile, Karl had finally mustered the courage to ask Maria to dance to a few songs (Van hadn't been happy to see this, but Fiona had… distracted him) while Thomas and Rosa had chosen to foreswear dancing in favor of discussing the mechanics of the DiBison versus a Shield Liger in battle (Karl shook his head at his younger brother as he and Maria passed by, wondering how in the world his brother became such a nerd that his form of flirting with a lovely young woman was to talk about the mechanics of Zoids rather than dancing). Thomas paid no attention to his brother, obviously engrossed in his conversation with Rosa, who looked equally involved. Rudolph and Maryanne were sitting on a sofa admiring the tree's shimmering lights, softly talking about their future together as the wedding was due to occur in a mere six months.

Meanwhile, Dr. Dee was mumbling to himself, calculating the total amount of money placed into the betting pool that had been set up guessing as to when Irvine and Moonbay would get together. The pool had been ongoing since the final battle with the Ultimate Deathsaurer, and practically everyone except the two lovers-in-denial had chipped in; hell, Raven had even thrown in a handful of coins for New Year's Day this year. Dr. Dee had, of course, wagered that they'd get together tonight, and considering that they were both missing right now… yep, looks like he won! He rubbed his hands greedily, eyes almost literally brimming with dollar signs. Now, what was he going to do with Van, Rosso, Rob Hermann and Thomas' paychecks? Decisions, decisions...

Raven had pulled Ryss outside of the base to look at the stars and after a few moments of silence, he had abruptly and stealthily laid a gentle kiss on Ryss' head then instantly turned his attention back to the sky, stoic expression taking over his face. Ryss had smiled and snuggled deeper into Raven's arms, which instinctively tightened around her. Three cheers for Rosso's plan and how well it had worked.

Rosso and Viola were on their way to make their announcement, hands entwined and congratulations could soon be heard from the living room, with Maryanne, Rosa and Fiona's squeals of joy the loudest. Irvine and Moonbay were oblivious, however, too concentrated on enjoying the time alone that they had and talking about the future; their future.


End file.
